Texas Take: May 16, 2016

Published 7:58 am, Tuesday, May 17, 2016

-- THE TRUMP ENDORSEMENT BREAKDOWN: The 2016 Republican Party of Texas convention, which took place in Dallas over the weekend – less than two weeks after hometown U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz suspended his campaign – forced many of the top officials in the state to reveal if they support GOP presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. Here’s the endorsement breakdown, per what we’ve seen:

>> FLASHBACK: Sitton, who enthusiastically endorsed Trump on Saturday, said last August that the businessman was “the worst candidate for president that the Republican Party has had in modern history.”

-- THE CHRONICLE’s TAKE ON THE CONVENTION: “Not all Texas GOPers ready to unite behind Trump” by Brian M. Rosenthal: “The theme of the 2016 Texas GOP state convention may have been "Unite to Win," but the weeklong gathering here revealed a reluctance among women and other activists in the nation's biggest Republican state to embrace the party's presumptive nominee, even if failing to do so could hand the election to the Democrats.

“Abbott, Patrick and other leaders, who, like the state as a whole, initially supported hometown U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, urged the party to unify behind Trump, and many activists said they would. There were plenty of signs, however, that others were not ready, from the bumper stickers on sale in the exhibition hall showing Trump and the words ‘Nonsensical Ravings of a Lunatic Mind’ to the somewhat subdued mood that settled over the typically festive convention.”

-- A CRUZ HOMECOMING: The convention also marked a homecoming for Cruz, who on Saturday delivered his first major speech since suspending his campaign. … By the Chron’s Dylan Baddour: “The 20-minute speech, welcomed with a standing ovation, became a sort of seminar on what it means to be conservative, tailored to his Texas supporters who consistently throughout the convention voiced concern about Trump's values.”

>> PRE-SPEECH INTERVIEW, by the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek: “Speaking from a 20th-floor suite overlooking downtown Dallas, a soft-spoken Cruz was more introspective than usual as he reflected on the race and its fallout. Looking back on his campaign, he denied any complicity in Trump's success, a charge leveled by other Republicans after Cruz's early embrace of the Manhattan developer, and while he avoided directly mentioning Trump, he seemed less than optimistic about the presidency going forward.”

-- MUST-READ on the weekend’s other big news: The Texas Supreme Court declared the state’s school finance system constitutional, by the Chron’s Andrea Zelinski: “The high court on Friday found the state's system for funding public schools "satisfies minimum constitutional requirements," dealing a blow to more than half Texas' school districts that had counted on the court to force the Legislature into ensuring wealthy and poor districts are treated equally.

“Instead the Supreme Court took the high road, making it clear the justices would not legislate from the bench and underscoring the need for legislators to tackle the troubled system on its own accord.”

>> WHAT’S NEXT, by the AP’s David Warren: “Now that it's clear Texas' complicated school finance system is here to stay, cash-strapped districts around the state must find a way to move forward — whether that's pressuring lawmakers for more money or finding a taste for raising property taxes.”

-- THE LATEST on the bathroom wars, by KERA’s Christopher Connelly: “On Friday, Patrick’s bathroom barrage took on national dimensions after the Obama administration released guidance to public schools saying transgender students are protected by the ban on sex discrimination in public education.

“This has big implications for a range of school activities and policies, and it means transgender kids can use the bathroom they’re most comfortable with. Patrick said superintendents should not comply, even if it means the Obama administration withholds billions of dollars of federal funding for Texas schools.”

-- Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private, by the NYT’s Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey. “Their accounts — many relayed here in their own words — reveal unwelcome romantic advances, unending commentary on the female form, a shrewd reliance on ambitious women, and unsettling workplace conduct, according to the interviews, as well as court records and written recollections. The interactions occurred in his offices at Trump Tower, at his homes, at construction sites and backstage at beauty pageants. They appeared to be fleeting, unimportant moments to him, but they left lasting impressions on the women who experienced them.”

-- Hillary Clinton fights for a win in Kentucky, by the WSJ’s Laura Meckler: “A two-state defeat might not meaningfully change Mrs. Clinton’s delegate advantage, but it would be embarrassing for her to continue losing states and further proof that a substantial slice of Democrats aren’t satisfied with her as the nominee and are drawn to Mr. Sanders’s more populist message.”

-- Nate Silver gives Donald Trump a 75 percent chance of being elected president, by CNN